Answers, finally answers!

Both Startups and the Public Sector can initiate a collaboration, by making the first step to approach the other, learn about the priorities, interests and possibilities for cooperation. We recognize however that it is easier for the Public Sector to initiate a collaboration, given that for a collaboration to work, there have to be adequate resources, capacities and willingness.

If you are a Startup and are interested to cooperate with the Public Sector, take a look at our Startup Guide that will provide you with all relevant information you need to know, before cooperating with a Public Sector institution, including a self-assessment, to map out the areas you still need to work on to prepare for a cooperation.

If you are a Public Sector Organization, you can take a look at our Preparation Module on Exposure Activities and first Institutional Arrangements, where we present some effective and simple approaches, like ecosystem tours or pitching events, along with some more thorough approaches such as Startup Officers or Tech-Fellowships that can support your organization to open up more for Startups. The Prepare Phase of our Toolkit will also provide you with additional information and tools to prepare the concrete cooperation with a Startup in a program-based approach.

Because the Public Sector is a reliable and stable customer that can support you and your innovation to reach its full potential, when being rolled out with the network and reach of the Public Sector. Check out the Startup Landing page for more arguments if you need convincing.

By cooperating with Startups you can gain access to fresh ideas and innovations that can be adapted and customized to your needs. You can also learn from the Startup’s agile ways of working and user-focus to improve your service delivery, that can have spillover effects also in other areas of your mandate. Visit the Public Sector Landing page for more information or read our brochure that provides you with the full set of information.

The goal of the Collaborative Innovators approach is to foster a sustainable cooperation that offer a win-win situation for both sides. In order to iron out the differences between both entities and enable Startup and the Public Sector to focus on their strength, the Collaborative Innovators approach proposes a program-based approach that provides a safe-space to innovate, test and adapt the Startup innovation in the Public Sector context.

The ideal outcome of a collaboration is a thorough piloting and adaptation of the Startup solution to a Public Sector challenge that has demonstrated that the solution works and can increase the impact of Public service delivery. If this has been achieved, a contractual or partnership cooperation should be agreed upon after the Collaborative Innovation program.

A collaboration usually takes between six and twelve months, excluding the preparation phase. The preparation phase in itself is of huge importance to evaluate the readiness of both parties, to bring the right actors on board and to design a collaboration program that caters the needs of Startups and the Public Sector.

Collaboration can take place in any sector or context, from healthcare, over energy to transport. What is important is to understand the added value that Startups can bring to the service delivery of the Public Sector.

It is not necessary to have a contractual relation, especially for those Public Sector organizations that collaborate with Startups for the first time. That being said, it is always fairer to remunerate Startups for their work, or to pursue cooperation models that enable Startups to monetize their work in a different format.

There are many organizations that focus on supporting Startups in developing their products or business models, that could also assist you in collaborating with the Public Sector. These actors can be Innovation Hubs, Startup Networks, Co-Working spaces or specialized agencies that are rooted in the local ecosystems. One of these partners that we also have cooperated with is for example the Impact Hub network.

The Collaborative Innovators toolkit is a modular and customizable toolkit that covers all phases of Collaboration from the preparation to the set-up of a Collaboration program. In several modules, that are composed of different sessions, we provide you with an orientation of how workshops could be organized and facilitated, what information needs to be discussed and recorded and which actors have to be involved. Visit our Toolkit page to find out more about the toolkit.

All Collaborative Innovators methods can be used, adapted and further developed according to a Creative Commons license. In that way we give you the possibility of taking our Toolkit as a basis to adapt it to your local context and needs.